“While the doors were closed You came among your disciples as the Resurrection of all.
And through the disciples You inaugurated a new Spirit among us!”
– Dismissal Hymn of St. Thomas Sunday.
This Sunday is referred to as the Second Sunday of Pascha, the Afterfeast of Pascha (Antipascha) and the Sunday of St. Thomas the Apostle which comes to us from the Gospel of John 20: 19-29. There are three themes which stand out to us on this Sunday; the theme of mission, the theme of peace, and the theme of faith and doubt.
St. John Chrysostom, the great orator of the Church tells us that the first words of the Risen Christ to the disciples were about peace. For He greeted them behind the closed doors with the words, “Peace be unto you”. To the women disciples who came to the tomb He proclaimed, “Rejoice”, and to His male disciples who were feuding with the Jews He proclaimed, “Peace”.
In the Old Testament true peace was a gift of God, experienced when His presence was felt in the land, for the Old Testament envisioned a future time of peace established by the Messiah, the Prince of Peace.
In the New Testament there is another additional meaning of Peace, for God’s gift of peace is now a present reality in Christ Jesus. Peace is one of the first fruits of the experience of salvation through Jesus Christ. This is the main meaning of the expression Jesus uttered to the frightened disciples.
But what is more important was after doubting the Resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Thomas, seeking physical proof, but only had to see the Risen Lord before Him with His wounds to declare and openly proclaim, “My Lord and My God!”, addressing the Risen Jesus with the divine titles of God, expressing the full deity of Christ.
Thus being empowered by Christ’s Resurrection, the Apostle and the others went out into the world carrying the message that, “Christ is Risen from the Dead, Amen!”
Today we also celebrate Mother’s Day, a time when all of America sets aside a special day to honor our mother’s, grandmother’s, great grandmother’s, godmothers, Sisters and aunts as well as daughters.
We on this Sunday of St. Thomas give thanks to Almighty God for the believing, praying and loving mothers who bore us and nurtured us to prepare us for our own journey through life. It has been said, “that if God is to be real to a child, the mother must make it so”. That is a huge responsibility especially in the present day.
If prayer is to be vital, like breath of the soul, the mother must make it so. Truly the influence and mark of a mother will remain forever on the child, and if she has entered into eternal rest, remember her today and forever keep her memory sacred in your life.
May the Risen Christ bless our mothers with good health, longevity and happiness all the days of their life.
